Hoosiers Take No. 1 Duke Right To The Wall

Wednesday, November 29

Bloomington, Ind.

9:30 PM

Indiana University

4-3

Duke

9-0

Duke

Indiana

11/30/2017 12:16:00 AM | Men's Basketball

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By: Andy Graham, IUHoosiers.com

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana had a visual slide-show going on the south-facing walls of Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall before Wednesday night's Big Ten/ACC Challenge showdown with Duke.

Photos and film clips of IU players and script logos were on gigantic display. It was new and decidedly eye-catching.

But inside, the writing wasn't on the wall till very, very late.

Because the unranked host Hoosiers battled the unbeaten and No. 1-ranked Blue Devils evenly until the final four minutes before Duke finally pulled away for a 91-81 victory.

It was a terrific contest, featuring 17 ties and 16 lead-changes. But when it came time to win, Duke made the plays on both ends.

Archie Miller was encouraged but not satisfied with his team's showing.

"I just thought, in general, our guys were ready to play," Miller said. "They weren't scared. They weren't afraid of the moment. And I think you saw 'throwing punches' where they got knocked down a few times but came back.

"Just learning how to win, learning how to win that sort of game, is so important to your program as you keep going forward – finding ways to win those types of games. Because if you do, it spearheads belief in what you're doing. Make no mistake, it's about winning the game."

Duke's fabulous freshman class shined but it was the most experienced Blue Devil player, Grayson Allen, who delivered the biggest dagger. IU was within 78-77 as the game went under the 4:00 mark when Allen swished a step-back 3. That ignited the decisive 10-4 closing run.

Both teams finished with four double-figure scorers, with Duke's superb 6-foot-11 freshman Marvin Bagley III posting game-high totals of 23 points and 10 rebounds.

Bagley scored the game's first bucket off a lob inside, but IU pivotman De'Ron Davis responded with a jump-hook to help set a tone of punch-counterpunch that lasted for almost the duration. The Hoosiers were clearly unintimidated by the Blue Devils' lofty ranking.

"I think to start the game out, we were locked in, offensively and defensively," senior guard Robert Johnson, who would lead IU with 17 points, said post-game. "I don't think there were a lot of lapses on either side of the ball in this game."

Including very few mental lapses.

Indiana didn't make a turnover through the first 15 minutes and finished with nine, keeping its turnovers in single-digits for the third straight game – the first time that has happened since at least 1996-97 after a cursory check of the record books.

"In as competitive an environment as we've been in, we were ready to compete, and that's a positive," Miller said. "For the most part, we took care of the ball, we played with poise."

A dozen of the ties and nine of the lead-changes transpired during a sparkling first half. And there were several sequences that got the capacity crowd hopping.

IU junior frontliner Juwan Morgan made a great hustling follow to pull IU within 13-12, then buried a baseline 3 on the next Hoosier possession to forge a 15-15 tie.

Following the first exchange of leads, the decibel level spiked as Devonte Green fed Freddie McSwain Jr. for a high-flying alley-oop dunk on a break for a 20-19 IU edge.

Hoosier senior Collin Hartman missed his first two 3s, but came up with a terrific tip-in and a running lefty layup that tied it at 28-28.

"Collin, you can see he's a big-game player," Miller said. "We haven't had him … he practiced back-to-back (days) for the first time all season leading into this game. He's a big, big part of what we're going because of who he is as a teammate, his leadership, his experience level. He's fearless."

Hartman is one of IU's key 3-point marksmen, but neither team shot it well from beyond the arc Wednesday.

IU hit just 3 of 15 attempts from 3-point range (and Duke likewise was at .200 on 2 for 10) in the first half, but Johnson's 3 from the right wing game the Hoosiers their final lead of the half at 34-32 at the 5:55 mark. Another Johnson 3 then helped keep Duke's halftime lead to a manageable 42-38.

Duke tried to build a more comfortable cushion early in the second half, with an Allen 3 creating the game's first double-digit lead at 52-42 with 18:15 to play.

But IU freshman Aljami Durham responded with a 3 from the left baseline to start 7-0 run that got the home team right back in it.

A terrific driving hoop by Johnson pulled IU within 55-54 with 13:40 left and then, after a Bagley rebound bucket, Hartman suddenly arose from about 25 feet from the top of the key to bury a 3 to tie it at 59-59 and sent the partisan crowd into delirium.

Hartman also hustled down a Davis free throw miss to preserve an IU possession before the 11:59 media timeout, earning a second standing ovation in a two-minute span.

Davis, who missed all but 4:47 of the first half after picking up two quick fouls, was a key Hoosier throughout the second half, taking it right to the tall Duke front line. Davis got 12 of his 16 points after intermission.

"He's a very big weapon for us," Johnson said of Davis. "That's something we'll continue to do – whenever we feel he has an advantage inside, he has to get the ball."

A Johnson spin move gave the Hoosiers a four-point lead, 63-59, with 11:45 left – IU's biggest lead of the night, matched twice more via Davis buckets inside, the last time on a ferocious dunk off a great Devonte Green feed to make it 73-69 with 6:25 left.

It was 75-75 at the 4:45 mark when Davis missed a pair of free throws. Davis made a pair at the 4:11 mark before Allen hit his big step-back 3, but then Davis missed two more charities at the 3:39 mark. IU needed every make it could get at that juncture, but didn't get enough.

"I think toward the last, the last part of the game, we started getting fouled more, and that's on us to hit our free throws," Davis said after hearing the Hoosiers went the final 5:26 without a field goal. "Although we didn't match them bucket for bucket, we were getting fouled. We knock down our free throws, we're right there. And a big part of that was me.

"We played hard. Team's improving in every aspect of the game. We rebounded the ball. We were playing (well in) longer stretches. Just got to finish."

IU finished just 16 of 26 at the foul line (.615) while Duke went 22 of 29 (.759). Indiana shot .508 from the field, but Duke was even better at .550.

And Duke (9-0) was money at crunchtime. Miller took note.

"What we weren't able to do tonight (down the stretch) were the simple A-B-C things," Miller said. "Knock two free throws down. Hit the open shot. And get that one stop, or that loose-ball rebound that helps you get that next play – winning plays in the last four minutes.

"You look at Duke, you just look at the winning plays they made at the end of the game. They turned it up. Either a challenged-shot stop or a blocked shot that led to something. Grayson Allen hits a heck of a step-back. Those are winning plays. You have to find a way to step up, as individuals and as a team, and you have to expect to make them."

The Hoosiers fought the taller Dukies to a virtual draw on the boards, with the Blue Devils managing just a 33-31 edge there. Duke entered as the nation's leading offensive-rebounding team, but IU actually finished with 13 to Duke's 12 in that category. That was a testament to IU's tenacity.

"That was a heck of a game," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "I thought Indiana played great. You could see in watching their tapes how they just have gotten better every game. How they are buying into Archie's foundation work defensively and offensively.

"…I think their coach can talk about their team better than I can, but I thought they played really (tough), shared the ball. They were a tough team to defend for us. For us, I can't tell you how proud I am of my team. We are exhausted … this is our ninth game in 20 days … they have such a will to win … we executed really well at the end."

If IU didn't finish quite as well, Miller agreed with Krzyzewski's assessment that the Hoosiers continue to grow.

"I will say this," Miller said. "If we can continue to keep growing up, continue to keep getting better, tonight should be the norm in Assembly Hall (in terms of competitive atmosphere). And if it's not, then that's on me.

"But now we go to Michigan (for a 12:30 p.m. tipoff Saturday), and it's got to be the same approach that it was tonight. We're going to deal with a hostile environment against a good team and we've got to be ready to battle."

No doubt battle was well and truly joined Wednesday night. And the Hoosiers could take away plenty of positives.

"You have to give Duke a lot of credit -- they're a good team -- but I think we did a lot of good things," Johnson said, "and I think it gave us sort of an identity and a standard, a baseline level – we need to play that hard and that intense every night.

"And I think if we get better from here, day-to-day, drill-by-drill in practice, I think we'll be right where we want to be by the end of the season."